In 1909, the renowned poet Muhammad Iqbal wrote Shikwa or Complaint to Allah.¹

The poem is a lament that Allah has neglected his followers, Muslims, the very people who spread Islam and gave Him global exposure.

A couplet refers to Mahmud Ghazni,² an eleventh century ruler, and his “slave” Ayaz:

ek hee saf meiN khaDe ho gaye mahmud o ayAz
na koi bandA rahA aur na koi bandA-nawAz

— Muhmmad Iqbal, Shikwa or The Complaint to Allah in Bang-e-Dara, Rekhta

they stood in the same row: Mahmud (the lord) and Ayaz (the slave)
(praying to Allah), no more was there distinction of master and slave

Malik Ayaz, according to Majid Sheikh, was not a slave but was a white European from Gerogia who was Mahmud’s “‘lakhtay’, a Pushtun polite word for ‘boy partner’.” According to S. Jabir Raza, there have been many other nobles with the name Ayaz. Many poets and authors, including Jalaluddin Rumi, have written about Ayaz.

Anyways, proceeding forward to this 21st century, Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif also rule the area which was once under Mahmud’s rule. Sharif is neither “lakhtay” nor a “slave” of Munir. But nonetheless, the reltionship between COAS (Chief of Army Staff) General Munir and Prime Minister Sharif is not even that of equals.

The parliamentary system of government in Pakistan officially endows the most power in the prime minister’s office and all others, including Chief of the Army Staff, work under the premier. However, since the 1950s, military has usurped the power and so the civilian governments rule at the mercy of the army — which gets a significant portion of the country’s budget, but also runs several businesse, and has overthrown and installed governments.

Between May 7 and 10, 2025, India and Pakistan went to war. Both claimed victory. Munir and Sharif thanked Allah for the “victory,” by going to Saudi Arabia in the first week of June to perform Umrah, and to pay homage to the Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or MbS.

Like in Iqbal’s couplet, Munir and Sharif in the picture above, are standing as equal in front of their Allah. But a quick analysis clearly shows the contentment and happiness on them is not equal — more correctly, it is totally missing on Sharif’s face, who seems worried and frustrated. On the other hand, Munir seems very satisfied and delighted.

What was Munir praying to Allah:

“Ya Allah, I am going to thank you but first let me thank my enemy Narendra Damodardas Modi. I am here in Saudi Arabia, at this time, because of him. It’s due to him that my reputation, that was on a downward trajectory, suddenly picked up and went so high that I have now become a hero in Pakistan. Allah, you won’t believe but I feel like a superman, I have so much power. Please Allah, don’t be scared of me — I am not like Ayub Khan.³.

“Allah, one more thing I have to tell you. Recently, I was made field marshal and was granted the baton of field marshal by President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. I am the second field marshal, Ayub Khan was the first one. Allah, isn’t it strange that both Sharif’s and Zardari’s parties [Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan People’s Party] have suffered at the hands of the army and yet they’re givng me more prestige. I tell you, now any if these two guys try to be clever with me, I’m going to use this very baton to spank their rears. By the way, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Imran Khan, is already rotting in prison.

“Now Allah, before I part, I should thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

President Asif Ali Zardari (centre) and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (right) jointly confer baton of field marshal upon Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir on May 22, 2025. IMAGE/Radio Pakistan/The News International

(Munir received an invitation to attend the US army’s 250th anniversary on June 14, 2025. He is going to attend King Trump’s extravaganza. He must be feeling very happy but will also be very worried because commercial-animal that Trump is, will push him to be on the US side instead on China’s side.)

What was Shehbaz praying to Allah:

“Ya Allah, what is happening in your world? Why is it that I can’t exercise my due power as a prime minister? You can see the worry on my face, I can’t even close my eyes or at least pretend to close while offering prayers. Allah, look at this guy standing next to me — he seems to be in a post orgasmic state — calm, relaxed, and satiated.

In 1959, Ayub Khan became Pakistan’s first field marshal and now Munir has become one. Everyone knows, the minute my government will try to carve our own policy, he’ll shove the baton we awarded him, up my you know what.

Allah, please guide me as to how can we get rid of him. Should we put a case of mangoes in his plane or find some other way?” Please!

ENDNOTES:

1 Several poems of Iqbal in Urdu with English translation are at Dr. Allama Muhmaad Iqbal. Khushwant Singh, journalist and author, translated both “Complaint” and “Answer” in a book form with introduction and can be found here. See also Frances W. Pritchett critiquing Singh’s couple of stanzas.

2 Extremist Hindus use many excuses to disriminate against Muslims. One of those excuses is Muslim invader Mehmud Ghazni’s raid of temple of Somnatha and destrution of an idol in 1026 CE But that lacks historical truth. See eminent historian Romila Thapar’s “Somanatha and Mahmud,” in Frontline magazine.

3 In the 1960s, during military dictator Field Marshal General Ayub Khan’s rule, a joke circulated about Ayub’s love for power. On the Day of Judgement, Pakistan’s leaders lined up to see Allah. Allah would rise from his throne and pat Pakistani leaders but would not arise when Ayub Khan came. A question was raised as to why? Allah’s reply: “He would have grabbed my throne.”

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by B.R. Gowani.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League party returned to power for her fifth term amid an opposition boycott and low voter turnout. The U.S. State Department said the elections were “not free or fair.”

Mujib Mashal, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, told CPJ that the newspaper was denied prior approval by the Bangladesh government to report on the polls.

Separately, on Saturday, January 6, the day before the election, the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper’s website was blocked in Bangladesh following its critical reporting on the government, according to Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, the outlet’s editor-in-chief.

Chowdhury said the outlet did not receive a government notice detailing why the website was blocked, and access was restored on Monday, January 8.

At around 1 p.m. on election day, around 15 to 20 men wearing Awami League badges attacked seven journalists– MA Rahim, a correspondent for the broadcaster Ananda TV, Rimon Hossain, a camera operator with Ananda TV; Masud Rana, a correspondent with the online news portal enews71; Sumon Khan, a correspondent with the broadcaster Mohona TV; Elias Bosunia, a correspondent with the broadcaster Bangla TV; Minaj Islam, a correspondent with the newspaper Daily Vorer Chetona; and Hazrat Ali, a correspondent with the newspaper Dainik Dabanol, during their coverage of an assault on independent candidate Ataur Rahman outside a polling station in northern Lalmonirhat district, according to Rahim and Rana.

The men beat several of the journalists with iron rods and bamboo sticks, beat and pushed others, and broke and confiscated multiple pieces of equipment including cameras and microphones—according to those sources and a complaint filed at the Hatibandha Police Station by Rana, which alleged the perpetrators were led by brothers Md. Zahidul Islam and Md. Mostafa, nephews of the incumbent parliamentarian contested by Rahman.

Md. Zahidul Islam told CPJ that he denied involvement in the attack. Islam did not respond to CPJ’s follow-up question about Mostafa’s alleged involvement in the attack.

Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of the Hatibandha Police Station, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

Separately, at around 2:40 p.m., around 25 men surrounded Sirajul Islam Rubel, a correspondent for The Daily Star newspaper, and Arafat Rahaman, a reporter for The Daily Star, as they tried to leave a polling station in the capital Dhaka after covering an alleged ballot stuffing attempt by Awami League supporters, Rubel told CPJ.

The men grabbed the journalists’ phones, deleted their video footage and photos of the incident, and blocked their exit from the center along with Daily Star reporter Dipan Nandy, who subsequently joined Rubel and Rahaman to report from the station. The trio managed to leave with the assistance of police at around 3:05 p.m., Rubel said.

Separately, at around 2:45 p.m., around 20 to 25 men beat Mosharrof Shah, a correspondent for the daily newspaper Prothom Alo, after he photographed and filmed alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters at a polling station in southeast Chittagong city, the journalist told CPJ.

Shah said that while speaking to an electoral officer about the incident, the men approached the journalist, took his notebook where he wrote what he observed, and deleted footage from his mobile phone in the presence of police. The men repeatedly slapped and punched Shah before he managed to flee the scene after around 30 minutes, the journalist told CPJ, adding that he received his phone back around one hour later with the assistance of his journalist colleagues.

Shah identified one of the perpetrators as Nurul Absar, general secretary of a local unit of the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League. Absar did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

Previously, on September 24, alleged members of the Chhatra League attacked Shah on the University of Chittagong campus.

Separately, at around 4 p.m., a group of 20 to 30 men surrounded and assaulted Saif Bin Ayub, a sub-editor for the Daily Kalbela newspaper, and took his laptop, phone, other personal items while he was photographing alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters inside a polling center in Dhaka, the journalist told CPJ.

The men pushed Bin Ayub against a wall and punched him, kicked him in the abdomen, and scratched him while forcibly removing his press identification card from around his neck. The perpetrators then dragged him out of the building as he requested help from police present at the scene, the journalist said. 

Officers did not intervene and the beating continued outside for around 15 minutes, the journalist said, adding that he received his phone and broken laptop back later that day but not his wallet, wristwatch and other items.

Separately, at around 4:30 p.m., around eight to 10 men—including electoral officials and teenagers wearing Awami League badges—pushed Sam Jahan, a Reuters video journalist, out of a vote counting room in a polling station in Dhaka. Two of the teenagers then chased Jahan out of the station, he told CPJ.

Separately, Awami League supporters surrounded and obstructed the work of four journalists with the New Age newspaper—correspondent Muktadir Rashid, photojournalist Sourav Laskar, and reporters Nasir Uz Zaman and Tanzil Rahaman—during their coverage of polling stations in Dhaka, Rashid told CPJ.

Separately, unidentified perpetrators threw bricks from behind at Mohiuddin Modhu, a news presenter and correspondent for the broadcaster Jamuna Television, after the journalist tried to speak to a young teenager who attempted to cast a ballot in the Nawabganj sub-district of Dhaka district.

Biplab Barua, Awami League office secretary and special aide to Prime Minister Hasina, told CPJ that law enforcement took swift action regarding all attacks on journalists on election day. Barua added that the government is committed to launching investigations into all such incidents and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 4, a group of around 10 men associated with a local criminal group beat Meahzi with machetes, iron rods, and sticks, at the computer training institute that he operates in the Chandanaish administrative region of the southeast Chattogram district, according to The Daily Star and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone.

The men then threw Meahzi off the roof of the two-story building, according to those sources and CCTV security footage of the incident reviewed by CPJ. The men also smashed Meahzi’s two mobile phones, vandalized the institute—breaking and looting computers—and stole 50,000 taka (US$467) in cash, he said. Meahzi said he was hospitalized and sustained numerous injuries, including a fracture to his back, three broken ribs, and a head injury from being hit with a machete. He was released from the hospital.

Meahzi told CPJ that he believes the attack was retaliation for his recent reporting, including a December 30, 2022, Daily Janobani newspaper print article, which CPJ reviewed, and a March 10, 2023, Daily Janobani report, both of which alleged that local government officials with ties to the criminal group had engaged in hill-cutting, which is soil excavation and selling that negatively impacts the environment, in the Dohazari area of Chandanaish. Meahzi, who also has reported for The Daily Shangu newspaper, also informed the local government administration about the hill-cutting, leading to a fine on the perpetrators, according to the journalist and his reporting.

“The attack on Bangladeshi reporter Ayub Meahzi reflects the dangerous atmosphere for journalists reporting on actions detrimental to the environment,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must immediately and thoroughly investigate this heinous attack and take steps to reverse a dangerous trend of impunity regarding violence against journalists.”

Chandanaish police initially declined to register a complaint filed by Meahzi’s father about the incident, Meahzi said, adding that police only registered the complaint around nine hours later, following the intervention of the Chandanaish Press Club.

Anwar Hossain, Chandanaish police officer-in-charge, told CPJ via messaging app that the complaint was registered without any delay and the investigation was ongoing.

A man who Meahzi said was not involved in the attack was arrested shortly following the incident and then released on bail. Meahzi added that he believed police targeted that man because he is Rohingya, and wanted to delay pursuing the real perpetrators behind the attack.

Hossain said the man was identified by CCTV footage and by Meahzi’s brother. Meahzi denied that his brother identified that man to the police.

Two additional suspects, including the head of the criminal group, were arrested on Monday, April 10, and sent to jail following a court order on Tuesday, April 11, according to Meahzi and Hossain. The two suspects remain in jail as of late April 11.

In December, Bangladeshi journalist Abu Azad was abducted and severely beaten in the Rangunia region of Chattogram district after photographing brick kilns that were allegedly operating illegally.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The students were protesting the lack of water, fuel, electricity, and other basic necessities at their dormitories. According to the journalists and CPJ’s review of videos that news outlets published online, the media crews that were obstructed from covering the protests were Esta Media Network, a network affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK); the independent agency Bwar Media; Shar Press, an independent media agency owned by veteran journalist Kamal Rauf; NRT TV, owned by businessman and politician Shaswar Abdulwahid; Kobas, a media agency affiliated with the PUK; and Wllat, a media agency affiliated with the PUK.

All of the journalists were later allowed to continue their jobs, except for Bwar Media correspondent Nabaz Rashad, whose equipment was destroyed.

Esta News reporter Dyar Hussen, who along with his cameraman Ayub Salih were among the journalists attacked, told CPJ that “the dormitory’s authorities assigned a specific location for the journalists to cover from.”

Hussen said he covered the protest on Facebook Live without any issues, and then more media crews arrived and started covering it as well. Suddenly, Najat Zrar, head of the dormitory, “came out from the main gate of the dormitory and attacked us all,” said Hussen. “He threatened us and asked us to quit covering and turn off the cameras and mobile phones.”

Bwar Media’s Rashad told CPJ that Zrar “attacked us in front of other security forces. All of us journalists opposed his attempt and were determined to cover.”

Zrar broke Rashad’s mobile phone, neck mic, and lighting kits, ending his livestream, the journalist said.

Shar Press correspondent Hazhar Anwar told CPJ that “the attacker was abusing us verbally and warning us not to cover and to leave the place, but we opposed him and were keen to cover.”

Anwar said the team’s cameraman continued covering the protests after Anwar’s mobile phone and tripod being broken.

Reached for comment over the phone, Zrar told CPJ, “I didn’t want to attack them but to talk to them, but I admit that I was uncontrollably furious. It was a misunderstanding, and I’m ready to explain if needed.”

Separately, on February 20, security guards at the Region Trade Bank in Erbil interrupted NRT TV’s live stream coverage of a crowd gathered in front of the bank to exchange Iraqi dinars for U.S. dollars at a rate of 1,320 dinars to the dollar, which compared with the official rate of 1,530 dinars to the dollar.

NRT TV correspondent Choman Mahmood, who was covering the crowd with cameraman Ahmed Mohammed, told CPJ via phone that the crew was forced to leave. “The bank’s guards asked me to quit interviewing people standing in long queues and to stop covering,” he said. “They pushed me backwards and forced me to stop.”

CPJ reached out to the bank for comment via phone, but they declined to comment.

Local press freedom organization Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy documented 431 violations committed against 301 journalists and media outlets in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2022, including physical attacks, detentions, and threats.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

On August 5 and August 6, Asayish security forces in several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan interfered with the work of at least 20 journalists and media workers with detentions, harassment, raids, and the closure of at least one media outlet, according to multiple news reports, local press freedom groups Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate, the Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy, and the Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq, and several journalists affected who spoke to CPJ. 

All of the journalists were covering or preparing to cover demonstrations on August 6 by the opposition party New Generation Movement over taxes, fuel prices, and employment opportunities, according to those sources. 

“Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan have reached a new low with their detention and harassment of reporters and media workers seeking to cover civil unrest,” said CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator Sherif Mansour, in Washington, D.C. “Iraqi Kurdistan was once a haven for the free press in the Middle East but now the region is a prime perpetrator of press freedom violations.” 

On Friday, August 5, the day before the demonstrations, security forces detained Taif Goran and Biryar Nerwayi, reporters at privately owned television broadcaster NRT, in front of the channel’s office in the city of Duhok in western Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the broadcaster’s report, and Goran, who spoke to CPJ on the phone. Goran told CPJ that “the security forces didn’t tell us any legal reason behind our arrest” and that the two were released without charge on bail after 27 hours in custody. Goran said that the forces also confiscated equipment from the office including five cameras, two livestream boxes, five microphones, and two tripods, which were all returned when the journalists were released.

NRT is owned by the Kurdish businessman Shaswar Abdulwahid, the leader of the New Generation Movement, who called for the protests.

On Saturday August 6, Asayish forces raided the privately owned website and TV outlet Rast Media office in the city of Duhok and shut it down without giving any reasons, according to the outlet’s Facebook post and Omed Baroshky, director of Rast News, who spoke to CPJ on the phone. Baroshky told CPJ that “we have completed all the legal procedures to work freely as a media outlet, but they asked us to shut it down and go home anyway.” As of August 9, the office has remained closed. 

On the same day at 10:00 a.m. in Erbil, the regional capital, five plainclothes security officers raided the home of Ayub Ali Warty, a reporter at broadcaster Kurdish News Network, which is affiliated with the opposition Gorran party, and detained the journalist, according to Warty, who spoke to CPJ over the phone and posted about the incident on Facebook. The officers escorted him to Asayish headquarters for investigation before releasing him at midnight, he said. Warty said he was verbally abused, but did not provide details of the insults. 

“During the investigation, I was told that if I want to live as a critical journalist, Erbil is not the right place,” he said. He said that he was forced to sign a blank paper without knowing the reason, and was told the paper “could put me in jail for 300 years.” When he was released without charge, Warty said the officers told him he was arrested “by mistake.” 

Also on Saturday in Erbil, NRT reporters Rizgar Kochar, Omed Chomani, and Hersh Qadir were detained by officers in plain clothes, according to two videos posted on Facebook by the broadcaster and Qadir, who told CPJ via phone that the officers also raided his home. Qadir said they were arrested in front of their office, and when they asked about the officers’ identity “they stressed that they are Asayish forces and we have to go with them.” He said the officers turned the journalists over to armed security forces who placed them in hoods and took them to the Asayish headquarters in Erbil. He said he believes that “the only reason was to prevent us from covering the demonstrations.” Qadir said the three were released without charge after six hours and after they were forced to sign documents without being allowed to read them. 

Also on Saturday, NRT reporters Diyar Mohammed and Soran Mohammed and NRT cameraman Mahmoud Razgar were arrested by security forces while covering a protest in the town of Chamchamal, in Sulaymaniyah governorate in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan, according to a Facebook post by the broadcaster and Soran Mohammed, who spoke to CPJ on the phone. Soran Mohammed told CPJ that security forces blocked the crew’s camera, ordered the journalists to go with them to their headquarters in the city, and seized their equipment including two cameras, one tripod, and two microphones. The officers told the journalists that they would remain in custody until the demonstrations were dispersed, he said. The three were released without charge three hours later, but the officers kept their equipment until Sunday, he said. 

On the same day in the city of Sulaymaniyah, a crew with independent news website Westga News, made up of chief editor and owner Sirwan Gharib, photographer Zanyar Mariwan, and editors Hevar Hiwa and Arkan Jabar, was arrested by security forces while covering demonstrations, according to a Westga News statement and Gharib, who spoke to CPJ via phone call. In the statement, Westga News said “the team was there to cover the demonstrations in an impartial and professional manner, and their arrest is against the laws and freedom of the press.” Gharib said the crew was detained for almost four hours before it was released without charge. 

In the same city on Saturday, Zhilya Ali, reporter for the privately owned internet television channel and news website Diplomatic, was detained with the outlet’s cameraman Azhi Abdulqadir the moment they stepped out of a taxi when they arrived to cover a protest, Ali told CPJ via phone. In a Facebook post, Ali said the two were arrested and brought to Asayish headquarters in order “to be prevented from covering the demonstrations.” Ali told CPJ that the security forces confiscated her phone, which they returned after she and the cameraman were released without charge two hours later. 

Also on Saturday, Hardi Osman, reporter for the independent website Peregraph was detained for five hours while he was trying to cover the protests in Sulaymaniyah city, according to a tweet by his employer and the reporter who spoke to CPJ over the phone. He said that the forces took him to Asayish headquarters before transferring him to a section of Kani Goma prison. 

He said that the forces also seized his equipment, including his phone, his microphone, and a voice recorder, and forced him to fill out a form asking “very personal questions” — details of which he did not provide to CPJ — before he was released without charge and without the equipment. He said he retrieved the equipment from Asayish headquarters on Tuesday.

Also in Sulaymaniyah city on Saturday, Awder Omer, video reporter for news website NasKurd, was covering a protest live on the website’s Facebook page when two members of the Asayish forces seized his phone and confiscated and broke his mobile internet modem, he told CPJ via phone. “They told me to leave and not cover the protests,” he said. 

On the same day in the city of Kalar, in Sulaymaniyah governorate Mohammed Mahmood, reporter for the independent broadcaster Radio Deng, was detained by security forces while covering a protest and held for five hours before he was released without charge, according to a Facebook post by the radio station and Mahmood, who spoke to CPJ via phone. 

Mahmood said that security forces interrupted his reporting on Facebook Live for Radio Deng and asked him to delete his footage. When he refused, he said they beat him on his legs and arms and took him to Asayish headquarters, where they asked him to sign a paper which they would not allow him to read. When he refused again, he said they beat him again. 

On Saturday also in Sulaymaniyah, journalist Snur Karim and camera operator Mohammed Azad Majeed of the U.S.-Congress funded Voice of America Kurdish were detained by Asayish security forces for two hours while covering a protest on Facebook Live for the outlet, according to an email from Voice of America public relations officer Anna Morris and a VOA statement provided to CPJ. 

In the statement, VOA said the team had received permission from local authorities to report there but was detained for “several hours.” Their mobile phones and microphone were seized and later returned, Morris said. 

Morris told CPJ the two were taken to a prison where Karim was forced to sign a “pledge” without being allowed to read it and was asked personal questions about her family, car, lifestyle, and political views. 

When contacted by CPJ via messaging app for comment on the arrests, raids, closures, and alleged beatings, Sulaymaniyah governorate Asayish security forces spokesperson Yasin Sami directed CPJ to a Facebook post by the Sulaymaniyah security directorate, a committee representing local government, police, and Asayish forces, denying the arrests. CPJ called Duhok Asayish director Zeravan Baroshku who said security forces were acting on a “court order” but would not comment further. CPJ also contacted Erbil Asayish spokesperson Ashti Majeed for comment via messaging app and phone call, but didn’t receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On Monday, July 18, police arrested Warty, a reporter for the broadcaster KNN TV, while he was on a reporting trip in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, according to the journalist and his lawyer, Bashdar Hassan, both of whom spoke to CPJ in phone interviews.

Officers took Warty to a local court, where he was charged with criminal defamation; he was then brought back to the police station and released that evening on a bail of 2 million dinars (US$1,340), according to the journalist and his lawyer.

If convicted of defamation under Article 434 of the Iraqi penal code, he could face up to one year in prison, Hassan said, adding that no court date has been set for his case.

“Iraqi Kurdish authorities must immediately drop all criminal charges against journalist Ayub Ali Warty and cease harassing members of the press for their work,” said CPJ senior researcher Yeganeh Rezaian. “Criminal defamation statutes have no place in an open society, and Iraqi authorities should reform the country’s laws as soon as possible.”

KNN TV, or the Kurdish News Network, is a Kurdistan-based television and online news agency closely affiliated with Kurdistan’s opposition Change (Gorran) Movement party, as CPJ has documented.

Hassan told CPJ that Warty’s detention stemmed from a defamation complaint filed by a local plastic surgeon after the journalist used a YouTube video by that doctor to illustrate his reporting on alleged sexual assaults committed by unrelated doctors. CPJ was unable to find contact information for the surgeon who filed the complaint.

Hassan said that such defamation complaints were “normal and legal,” but that authorities should have accepted the complaint under the country’s Journalistic Law, which allows for defamation cases to be adjudicated without members of the press facing arrest.

Hassan also told CPJ that “we, a team of lawyers, will request the court to change the case into journalism law, otherwise, we will appeal the court’s decision.”

When CPJ called Erbil police spokesperson Hogr Aziz, he refused to comment on the record.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.